1. Are we, as some might say, motivated by a desire to save our off-spring?
2. Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good?
3. Mr. Otis once said, "That having integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching." If this is so, and no one knows when we have done good, would you still do good?
4. "Delayed reciprocal altruism", seems like a gamble - back to game theory, any way. Does this seem to make sense to you. That is that we act out of a desire to have what we have done being done to us?
5. Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism?
Altruism is the act of helping others with selfless motivation and intention. Although the article says otherwise, I would say that true altruism does exist. I have no intention of rebutting this article with new facts, however I would interpret the given facts a different way. It was said that humans feel pleasure out of having done a kind deed. So when we pursue a good act, we are not doing it for others but doing it for the pleasure of ourselves. It's not wrong to feel good of ourselves and I believe that it is still a selfless act even if we feel pleasure out of doing the act. It's not that we know that our bodies are going to mentally feel happy after doing a good action, so if our intentions were originally to help others out, I think that is enough to consider the action 'altruism'. With the same reason, I would go against other opinions such as that our good acts are out of wanting something back or acknowledgment. Deep inside we might be wanted to be rewarded, but most of us who do such good deeds don't stop to think, "If I do this, what will I get?".
2. Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good?
3. Mr. Otis once said, "That having integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching." If this is so, and no one knows when we have done good, would you still do good?
4. "Delayed reciprocal altruism", seems like a gamble - back to game theory, any way. Does this seem to make sense to you. That is that we act out of a desire to have what we have done being done to us?
5. Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism?
Altruism is the act of helping others with selfless motivation and intention. Although the article says otherwise, I would say that true altruism does exist. I have no intention of rebutting this article with new facts, however I would interpret the given facts a different way. It was said that humans feel pleasure out of having done a kind deed. So when we pursue a good act, we are not doing it for others but doing it for the pleasure of ourselves. It's not wrong to feel good of ourselves and I believe that it is still a selfless act even if we feel pleasure out of doing the act. It's not that we know that our bodies are going to mentally feel happy after doing a good action, so if our intentions were originally to help others out, I think that is enough to consider the action 'altruism'. With the same reason, I would go against other opinions such as that our good acts are out of wanting something back or acknowledgment. Deep inside we might be wanted to be rewarded, but most of us who do such good deeds don't stop to think, "If I do this, what will I get?".